It's very hard.

It's very hard to know what to think, do and say when your neighbour has a serious accident that leaves him in a coma, and others ask about him. The easy thing is to just to relay the headline medical news, and leave it at that. The difficult thing is to express the hope that we have, not the hope that is reliant on medical science (our understanding of the human brain is still extraordinarily primitive), but the hope that is in our Lord Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, and the promise of eternal presence with him in the Kingdom of heaven.

My neighbour and his family are believing Christians, and I can only imagine the distress and grief his wife is now going through (they are still abroad where the accident happened, a mountain walking fall, so thankfully the hospital is well equipped in handling such injuries), but the following thought struck me.

My neighbour is in a bad way, still unconscious after many days in hospital, but how does Jesus look at him. We can be sure that his view of him is very different to ours. One view is that here is a man that has accepted Jesus' offer of forgiveness and received His grace and His future promise. That alone is the greatest thing a person can do and receive, barring none. Beyond that, Jesus would, I think, look at him, and be pleased that all 4 of his children have also accepted Him and received that same forgiveness and grace, and are already stepping out into Christian service. His bringing them up in a Christian home and providing Christian encouragement and love, has equipped these 4 children for not just life, but eternity, providing a joy that surpasses the deep deep sadness of seeing their father lie there motionless and unresponsive. There are many evangelists that have preached the Word of God to thousands and thousands, and guided huge numbers to accept Jesus Christ as Lord, but numbers are immaterial. Here we have a devoted and hard-working father, who with his wife have steered four children towards and into adulthood, along the narrow and difficult path of the Christian life and service, and I am sure Jesus himself is as pleased with my neighbour as he is with Billy Graham.

So, how do we talk to people when asked about a Christian friend with serious injury. My neighbour has spoken the answer, "I have a complete and sure hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my inherent sin, and in Jesus' promise of my place in his eternal kingdom; and my children also know that for themselves, so I have no fear. You too can receive that forgiveness and hope.".

This is the second church member recently to have suffered serious injury, including head injury. The previous chap has made a brilliant recovery, much faster than was expected, which can only be put down to God answering fervent prayer. We continue to pray fervently for my neighbour, and await God's answer. We have no idea what that answer will be, but know God has him in his arms and will provide the perfect answer, with a Godly joy that surpasses human joy and sorrow.